Lady Warriors scrimmage evaluates players

by Lance Cpl. Antwaun Jefferson

The Quantico Middle/High School Lady Warriors Softball Team started their 2012 season against the Colonial Beach High School Lady Drifters in Colonial Beach on Monday.

With half the team filled with new players, some who haven’t played the game before, the coaches felt it would be wise to start the season off with a scrimmage.

“Since today is not an actual game, we are going to take this opportunity to see how our players are doing in their different positions, get some good batting in against a decent pitcher and, hopefully, keep from having any injuries,” said Joshua Thom, the head coach for the Lady Warriors. “

The Lady Warriors arrived an hour early and used every second to practice the fundamentals of the game. While the pitchers were warming up their arms with Nicole, a sophomore catcher, helping them out, the rest of the team made sure they had the basics of throwing and catching properly.

Jose Diaz, the assistant coach, hit fly balls to the players showing them different scenarios they might come across during the game and what to do in those situations.

“Remember, we are playing a scrimmage,” Thom said right before the start of the game. “There is nothing on the line so we can be a little risky out there. Let’s try new things. Do things we would not normally do because this is a learning experience. Now let’s get out there and give ourselves a good showing.”

Quantico was up first and after two outs, Cheyanna, a sophomore, got a base hit. After the hit Jessica, sophomore, made a hit that helped Cheyanna to run two bases she slid into home plate, knocking over the Drifter’s catcher and scoring the first run of the game.

The Drifters didn’t let them stay in the lead for long as they not only caught up, but took the lead over the Lady Warriors 5-1 by the end of the first inning.

“Ok, now that the first innings out the way, we have learned some lessons, right?” Thom said. “We know what they can and can’t do now. So let’s use it. We’ve got this game.”

The second and third innings were hectic for the Lady Warriors. With the Drifters stealing bases consistently, hitting two grand slams and striking out the Lady Warriors like it’s second nature, the Drifters were trying to make it a long night for the Lady Warriors.

With the Drifters 19 runs ahead and it being a scrimmage, the umpires and coaches agreed to restart the score board and continue into the fourth inning with a clean slate.

The Lady Warriors did well in the fourth inning, getting the Drifters out when pitching and laying waste to the ball at bat. At the end of the fourth inning, the Lady Warriors had the lead 3-1.

By the end of the game though, the Drifters found their footing and came back to beat The lady Warriors 7-3.

We did OK, in the first half of the game,” Thom said. “We did exceptionally better overall in the second half. “Your pitching, catching, and hustle was up and that’s what we wanted. When we leave here today, I don’t want you all to be down about the bad things that took place, because we will get better. Instead, think about what you did right, and how to better yourselves next time around.”

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) of non-U.S. Government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although DoDEA may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for Department of Defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.